The never-ending wait for the Central government staff to know what Narendra Modi government has in store for them has stretched further.
The beneficiaries have already received their revised salaries, however, the picture related to the exact allowances is still unclear.
If various media reports are to be believed then the Cabinet would look at the proposals over allownces by the end of June. The employees might receive the same, including house rent allowance (HRA), by July 18.
Over 4.9 million central government employees have been waiting for their revised allowances under the Seventh Pay Commission.
According to a report published in the Financial Express, because of the delays in revised allowances distribution, the government has been able to save Rs 2,200 crore per month or Rs 40,000 crore cumulatively since January 1 last year.
However, the Centre may compensate the delay to some extent by offering more generous HRA than recommended by the committee earlier, the report quoted sources as saying.
The Ashok Lavasa Committee on Allowances submitted its report to Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on April 27.
The Committee was formed to review the recommendations of the Seventh Pay Commission.
The pay commission had recommended abolition of or subsuming of allowances like acting, assisting cashier, cycle, condiment, flying squad, haircutting, rajbhasha, rajdhani, robe, shoe, shorthand, soap, spectacle, uniform, vigilance and washing.
The Committee was constituted in June last year after the government implemented the recommendations of the Pay Commission.
The Seventh Pay Commission had recommended abolishing 53 of the 196 allowances, and subsuming 36 other allowances. It also recommended slashing the House Rent Allowance (HRA)–for metros, commission recommended bringing down the HRA from 30 per cent to 24 per cent.
The Seventh Pay Commission had recommended the rate of House Rent Allowance (HRA) be kept at 24 percent, 16 percent and 8 percent of the Basic Pay for Class X, Y and Z cities respectively.
Government employees protested the recommendations of the Seventh Pay Commission, following which the Narendra Modi-government formed a committee under Finance Secretary Ashok Lavasa to review the suggestions.
The Committee on Allowances was constituted in July and after an extended deadline was asked to submit its report to the government by February 22, 2017.
If the government implements pay commission recommendations on allowances, then as per estimates, the cost to the exchequer will be Rs 29,300 crore.
Source: Business Today